Reading comprehension is one of the most valuable academic skills taught in school. Selecting the appropriate assessment instrument to ensure early identification and intervention is important as there is an amalgam of cognitive abilities and academic skills involved in reading comprehension. The GORT-5 is the most recent edition of a test that…

The current investigation aimed to explore how and to what extent technology tools and web-delivered language learning platforms impact the academic performance of English language learners (ELLs) at the tertiary level. The study used a quantitative experimental research method employing a single-group pre-test and post-test design. A total of…

The purpose of diagnostic language assessment is to identify learner strengths and weaknesses so that subsequent learning activity can be planned according to learner needs, a purpose which aligns with pedagogical recommendations to individualize instruction. Indeed, the extent to which diagnostic assessment can inform the selection of…

This study concerns the "highly qualified teacher" provisions of the "Elementary and Secondary Education Act" ("ESEA," 2002), as reauthorized, and other policies at the federal, state and local levels, which have aimed to elevate the content knowledge of teachers. This examination of "Praxis II" score trends…

Multiple uses of the same assessment may present challenges for both the design and use of an assessment. Little advice, however, has been given to assessment developers as to how to understand the phenomena of multiple assessment use and meet the challenges these present. Particularly problematic is the case in which an assessment is used for…

The Title I Evaluation and Reporting System (TIERS) under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act first required project participation and achievement data from the states for the 1979-80 school year. Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981 (ECIA) repealed the requirements for use of federally mandated…

This study asserts that central examinations need not necessarily be those administered by the government; they can be examinations centralized at some administrative level, but in any case, they are external to the school. This study also assessed the impact of central examinations on the functioning of the education system and students academic…

This study compares test battery results through carefully planned analysis of actual Title I evaluation data. The goal of the study is to derive practical recommendations regarding the results of commonly used test batteries which would be helpful at the local level. A criticism of the comparability assumption underlying the Title I evaluation…

The annual student performance information released in Indiana reports information on many different criteria and treats the data as if all comparisons should be the same. However, Indiana needs to set performance expectations that require all, not just some, students to improve. The Indiana Statewide Test of Educational Proficiencies Plus…

A new national assessment system could lay a solid foundation for improving schools by monitoring the effectiveness of schools and teachers and student progress toward national goals. A sound national assessment system would: (1) allow valid comparisons between schools, districts, and states; (2) provide sound data on achievement, not just…

Issues surrounding educational assessment in Australia's Northern Territory are discussed. It is possible that the real issue is not an actual decline in educational standards, but instead, a decrease in public confidence in educational practice. Global patterns in educational testing and the assessment systems of the United States, the British…

Report cards on schools have become common in many states, but their contents and formats vary widely. To study the variations and to determine if the differences in presentation have anything to do with presenting valuable data or with educational policy, a study was undertaken of the report cards of Southeastern states. Five states (Florida,…

Individual standardized test scores in major school subjects can be combined to evaluate school programs and systems. Recently, Sweden experimented with such a practice. Test scores in different subjects (Swedish, English, mathematics) were gathered, units of different size (schools, municipalities, regions) were compared, and inter-school…

To explore the effects that changing to performance-based assessment has had on sex differences in science achievement that had been observed with traditional tests, 3 studies involving more than 906 elementary school students compared scores of males and females on performance-based tests. Few gender differences were found. (SLD)

As part of its academic testing program and the evaluation of academic achievement, the Des Moines (Iowa) Public School System administers two standardized, norm-referenced achievement tests. These are the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) and the Iowa Tests of Educational Development (ITED). This document provides information regarding…